The Sentinels lost 15 chs in battle. Though all of them were still in salvageable condition and could be restored in working condition in a matter of weeks, the fact that the pirates managed to overwhelm them in the first place was a huge problem!
Commander Magdalena was livid. The Living Sentinels should have easily been able to wipe out Davy's Ghosts with their accumulated advantages. Yet the rookies had all shown that they were less prepared for battle than everyone thought!
Certainly, in a more normal battle, the rookies might have perford closer to standard. Under the command of Ves, Major Verle had deliberately stacked the deck against the rookies.
First, instead of dispatching three ordinary ch companies, he instead pulled out every rookie spread among the Living Sentinels and grouped them together.
The rookies had all trained alongside veterans and more experienced ch pilots. Now that they had been robbed of this pillar, they had no one reliable to turn to for guidance!
Second, Major Verle deliberately deprived the rookies from the supportive glows that they had been exposed to on a daily basis. They had to fight against the pirates without a single form of moral support!
It beca clear that the rookies had beco far too pampered by the glows. Their unexpected absence left them with little ti to adjust, causing them to lose their composure to a greater degree than they should have.
These reasons and more all resulted in a fairly awful result. Major Verle had basically set up his own n!
As the person responsible for ordering Major Verle to screw over the rookies, Ves felt no remorse. He was always a believer in practical lessons, and there was no better way to drive a lesson ho than to show the worst that could happen!
He didn't care whether the rookies shad and dishonored themselves. Ves would rather humiliate his own n than to fawn over them and inflate their egos. Once they deployed in a serious battle, the failure they experienced today might take place with much more lives at stake!
The assistant ch designers that Ves had brought along this expedition all looked thoughtful and introspective. None of them experienced any actual battles up close. The most they knew about battle all ca from viewing and studying archival footage during their student days.
As much as Ves resented the Bright Republic for its insistence of drafting as many low-ranking ch designers to the frontlines as possible, he was grateful for the harsh lessons he learned back then. The Flagrant Vandals and Lydia's Swordmaidens had allowed him to acquire a much more comprehensive use of chs and the difference that ch pilots could make.
Now, he hoped that all of his assistants learned so of the sa lessons that he did in this practical demonstration.
"This is true ch combat." He told them. "They are never as clean or standard as the battle footage that you have seen before. The truth is that many of your teachers have never experienced a ch battle up close. When they select which footage to show to you, they are often affected by selection bias. They do not always understand the importance of the human elent either."
This couldn't be helped. Ordinary ch designers had no place on the battlefield. The more talented and capable they beca, the more they stayed away from battle.
As a result, a disproportionate amount of successful ch designers had never experienced any serious danger in their long lives. They always spent their ti on stable planets and designed their chs in well-guarded compounds.
Many of the academics and the theorists in the ch industry developed fantastic innovations and made amazing achievents. Yet when it ca to understanding the ssiness of actual battle, they were far inferior to the ch pilots they supposedly served!
Fortunately, not every ch designer possessed this shortcoming. Mastery experiences that allowed ch designers to relive the experiences of veteran ch pilots allowed the forr to experience the complicated nature of battle at minimal risk.
In addition, a ch designer could always hire consultants or advisors who had lived through many battles. As long as the ch designer sincerely listened to the words of wisdom of various veterans, their ch designs would doubtlessly be better adapted to a chaotic battlefield!
Though Ves could have relied on these alternate thods to wisen up his assistants, he decided to aim for a practical demonstration.
Not just his assistants, but the rest of the Task Force Predator also learned their lessons!
Just because they were part of the Larkinson Clan didn't an they were invincible! Compared to their counterparts from other third-rate states, the circumstances of the Larkinson ch pilots were nurous tis better. Their chs were all excellent compared to the machines fielded by regular outfits.
This was sothing that Ves had always dread of. He wanted to invest in a strong, loyal ch force that could help him survive the challenges to co.
Yet Ves knew that all of that building up was partially aningless if the rapid expansion in strength remained untested.
The outco of the battle against Davy's ghosts only confird his suspicions.
His clan had grown too rapidly. If the ch pilots that engaged the pirates all consisted of trueblood Larkinsons, they would have never exhibited so many mistakes!
Cleaning up the aftermath of the battle only took a few hours.
The exhausted Living Giants expressed a bit of wariness towards the Larkinson Clan until they finally verified their rescuers weren't pirates themselves!
Commander Ulbert Rilven wanted to speak to Ves in person to express his gratitude, but the clan patriarch didn't bother himself with this trivial chore. Major Verle took over in his stead.
Instead, Ves decided to pay a visit to the crestfallen Living Sentinels. He boarded a shuttle with Lucky which quickly reached one of the light carriers of the Living Sentinels.
The hangar bay descended into silence as every rookie that participated in the battle had gathered together. Commander Magdalena Larkinson adopted a stony expression as she conveyed her disappointnt in her n without speaking any words.
When Ves finally appeared, she saluted him. "My apologies, clan patriarch. My Living Sentinels have failed your test."
He dismissively waved his hand. "Tests are ant to push limits. Sotis those limits break. That is not an inherently bad outco. What is more important is to learn the right lessons from them and make sure the sa outco doesn't happen again."
"Oh, I promise you, sir, I will not allow any of my Sentinels to enter into battle unprepared again!"
The Sentinel Commander harbored no grudge against Ves for masterminding this test. She understood as well as Ves and Major Verle that the Living Sentinels needed this wakeup call.
After exchanging a few more words with Commander Magdalena, Ves finally turned his attention to the rows of dejected rookies.
They had already been subjected to a lot of jeers and looks of disappointnt from their fellow clansn. The near-disaster still haunted their minds. If they had screwed up just a little bit worse, then so of their colleagues wouldn't be alive at this ti!
Such a realization hit the inexperienced rookies particularly hard. Without any veterans to ntor them through their first real battle experience, their imaginations were already running wild.
Ves didn't worry too much about their ntal states. The Larkinsons possessed institutional awareness of the importance of managing the ntal health of their ch pilots.
He still felt like giving a speech, though.
"ch pilots of the Living Sentinels. I know it hurts to disappoint everyone's expectations. You must be feeling pretty sorry for yourselves, correct?"
Not every glum ch pilot nodded, but their overall mood was plain to see to him. Hardly anyone was satisfied with their performance today!
"Though you have much cause to feel disappointed in yourselves, I think you should be happy instead."
That caused half of the 120 rookies to beco startled.
"Each battle begins with ch pilots like you entering the fray. Not everyone gets to leave with their lives intact at the end. Be grateful that you have managed to defeat over 300 deadly pirate chs without suffering any loss of life."
Certainly, the rookies managed to lose fifteen chs, but as callous as that sounded to soone who considered them to be alive, Ves would rather lose a bunch of chs than a single Larkinson ch pilot!
chs were built for a specific purpose. Though Ves wanted as many of them to survive as long as possible, it was inevitable for them to make the ultimate sacrifice. Ves did not feel sad about that. As long as the chs received enough opportunity to fulfill the purpose that they had been created for, then they hadn't existed in vain!
Ves did not feel like employing any spiritual trickery today. He continued to address his Living Sentinels with plain words.
"I am sure that you have all realized the point of this battle. To be honest, I expected you to fail. I already took that into account. It isn't your job to feel disappointed at yourselves. That is sothing that is reserved for your bosses. Hopefully, they will learn sufficiently from this battle and revise your training. Trust in them. They want you to succeed as much as you do. The clan will always have your back."
A bit of warmth swelled in their hearts. They all expected Ves to express anger or disappoint. Why shouldn't he? His trained soldiers, which had taken up a lot of money to train to their current standard, fought worse than the pirates they confronted!
Yet not a single signal that Ves transmitted to his soldiers contained any negativity.
This gesture mattered. It was in their darker tis that defeated soldiers needed a helping hand the most.
Their loyalty to him in person, which had already been high, rose to further heights!
The rookies no longer dwelled on their mistakes that much. Instead of looking back to the past, they instead started to look to the future.
A hint of determination swelled in their hearts.
They would definitely do better next ti! There was no way they were going to disappoint everyone's expectations twice!
Both Ves and Commander Magdalena shared a quick glance.
Ves accomplished the goal he set to achieve. Not only did he set their minds a little straight, he also deepened their loyalty to him and the clan!
As for Commander Magdalena, she continued to maintain a stern expression. Though the rookies needed to be handled with care, they were still warriors and soldiers. Their job was to pilot a ch in battle, not to be pampered all day.
If participating in an actual battle was too much for ch pilots to cope, then the Living Sentinels would be better off forcing them into retirent.
After he finished his speech, Commander Magdalena dismissed the rookies. They would all be sent back to their assigned carriers and receive the care and instruction of their original units.
"The battle ca very close to killing so of our n." She told him. "I have to thank the Avatars for protecting our ejected cockpits against enemy fire. If you don't mind, would you have felt any remorse if we lost any lives?"
"No." Ves honestly replied. "I would have been happier instead. An actual disaster drives the point ho a lot more effectively than a near miss."
Though the Sentinel Commander obviously didn't like his answer, she understood his rationale, as cold and ruthless as it sounded.
The sentint was common in the ch Corps, where incompetence wasn't tolerated. The ch Corps was already weaker than the ch Legion. The Brighters always had to fight harder than the Vesians in order to defend their state!
"How far do you intend to push us, sir?" She asked.
"I expect to co out of the Nyxian Gap with a solid core that will form the basis of my future ch army." Ves replied. "No matter how many flaws and impurities I need to hamr out, as long as the refined product is strong enough, I am prepared to pay almost any price!"
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